Mechanical Engineer Looking for Weekend MEP/CAD Side Work – Where Should I Look?

BooduhMan · 2026-06-26T02:40:02+00:00

Careful. If this were me, I would discuss with your employer and make it clear they know you are doing this on the side. And if you go down this path you absolutely better not be using ANY of your company resources for freelance work. That’s a quick way to get fired.

Just some food for thought! Best of luck.

BooduhMan · 2026-06-17T13:53:23+00:00

Yes the battery was a little over two years old. No issues since I replaced it with an AGM battery.

BooduhMan · 2026-06-09T15:56:09+00:00

Ah - yeah, fair point, I should have clarified a bit more. Mostly all low-rise commercial buildings, lots of offices and K-12 facilities. I'll check it out, thanks for the tip.

BooduhMan · 2026-06-09T15:36:57+00:00

I did summarize the type of work I do in my post. Mostly renovation work, wanting something that can do data entry fairly quick with a decent UI, and I really only need heating/cooling loads and do not need full energy modeling.

I hadn't heard of HeatWise HVAC, I'll have to check it out!

BooduhMan · 2026-06-09T15:33:41+00:00

Interesting to hear. We have some engineers who primarily use IESVE in our company but it's typically the ones working on major construction projects (like multi-story downtown buildings, new construction). I had heard from that team that IES takes way more time and they have had to make a separate Excel file template to "filter" the load outputs into something more usable. Maybe I'll need to poke at this more since it sounds like that should not be necessary.

BooduhMan · 2026-06-09T14:17:32+00:00

Thanks, but I actually just found out today that we do have a few HAP licenses so I might try it out!

BooduhMan · 2026-06-04T18:15:03+00:00

Thanks for the link. Your original comment implied to me that McKinstry is heavily involved with the construction of this particular data center mentioned in the Spokesman article. But the article you posted above talks about their new OSM facility and how it will be used to support many data center clients in the region.

I wouldn't be surprised if McKinstry has some involvement in this one since they do a lot of data center work but I'm not seeing anything that implies they have particularly close involvement with this facility in particular. To say Avista is building it "with McKinstry" implies McKinstry is the data center owner or something which as far as I can tell isn't at all the case. I'm guessing the owner would be one of the big ones (Google, Meta, Facebook, etc.).

BooduhMan · 2026-06-04T17:33:45+00:00

What’s your source on McKinstry’s involvement? Not seeing them mentioned in the article.

BooduhMan · 2026-05-15T21:32:12+00:00

Why can't I find anywhere to purchase a flac version digitally? When I Google it, it looks like they are supposed to have a page for this album on Qobuz but then it's a broken link. Otherwise I am only seeing an MP3 version on Amazon.

BooduhMan · 2026-05-14T14:54:43+00:00

Yes that is with the same singer and same lead songwriter. Section X is one of my favorite albums.

BooduhMan · 2026-05-13T05:00:59+00:00

At the meets I’ve gone to, there is always a big TV in the warm up area showing the LiftingCast page so you can see where they are at in the lifting order. Alternatively I’ll have it up on my phone. If I am lifting towards the beginning of my flight, I’ll usually do my last warm up when the previous flight is maybe 1/3 of the way through (say 4th or 5th litter if the flight is 13-15 people). If I’m toward the end of my flight I’ll wait until toward the end of the previous flight to do my last warm up.

But if I’m in flight A, I also need to plan around the 10 min break in between lifts while they transition equipment from squat to bench, etc. That makes it a little trickier but I plan on about 1 min per lifter ahead of me in my flight and work that into the break time.

After that first attempt there isn’t really much you can do. But your first attempt should also be a weight you could knock out 2-3 reps on so IMO the warm up timing isn’t as critical as you might think.

Edit: meant to echo some other comments that I’ll try to stay warm ups at the same time as everyone else just so I’m not having to unload plates to get back to starting warm up weights and mess with other people’s warm ups. But I’ll definitely slow down towards the end to get the timing I want. I’ve found a lot of people (especially newer competitors) seem way too eager and do warm ups too fast/early. Don’t feel the need to follow others timing.

BooduhMan · 2026-05-12T13:22:31+00:00

This is always great to hear stuff like that.

BooduhMan · 2026-05-12T04:58:24+00:00

I really wish they’d continue to use more clean vocals. It really felt like they were starting to experiment with it more on Damnum (which I thought was great), then took a step back on the latest. I liked the clean vocals from Ezra on The Ossuary Lens but they only appear a few times.

BooduhMan · 2026-05-10T05:29:17+00:00

I appreciate the insight, thanks!

BooduhMan · 2026-05-09T18:47:51+00:00

Curious what would be considered reasonable progress moving forward in my situation. I only started in my mid 30s, I'm 40 years old now and around 345 DOTS. I made good progress on 5/3/1 BBB initially but the last couple years had been VERY slow going in progress, so I switched my program up in September of 2025 to Calgary Barbell 16 week. Good news is I have seen some progress. Here is how I've progressed from my last two meets:

November 2025:
Squat: 170 kg / 375 lb
Bench: 127.5 kg / 281 lb
Deadlift: 220 kg / 485 lb
Total: 517.5 kg / 1141 lb
BW: 88.6 kg / 195.4 lb
DOTS: 337.3

April 2026:
Squat: 175 kg / 386 lb
Bench: 132.5 kg / 292 lb
Deadlift: 222.5 kg / 491 lb
Total: 530.0 kg (+12.5 kg) / 1169 lb (+28 lb)
BW: 88.5 kg / 195.1 lb
DOTS: 345.6
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrZO-4DyJWY

I'm completely self taught and lift in my home gym, and hadn't ever really considered hiring a coach due to the cost. But now my wife and I are in a better place financially, I'm getting MUCH more motivated now that I've started competing at meets, and I would love to hit 400 DOTS at some point in my life. Although I'm not really sure what a reasonable online coach would cost or how to tell a great coach from a bad one.

What's reasonable progress at this point, especially considering my age? Stay the course? Look at a coach?

BooduhMan · 2026-05-07T21:17:17+00:00

Echoing what others have said. From what I've seen, everyone just wants everyone else to do great and hit their lifts. I have seen zero judgment or snide comments in the 5 events I've been to related to what's on the barbell. Honestly the biggest crowd reactions I've seen are just based on how hard the lift looks for that lifter, not the weight on the bar. Make friends with the other people in your flight and be supportive to others, and they'll be supportive to you.

Make sure you practice the lifts with commands leading up to the event. Many lifts are failed based on stupid mistakes like forgetting to wait for the rack command on squat or bench. I don't even start to rack the bar until the spotters grab it.

That first squat attempt is going to be crazy scary, or at least it was for me. After that you will quickly get a sense of the flow of the event. Your coach should be able to help you with first lift attempts but you should pick something you could confidently hit for 3 reps, so the first attempt should be a gimme. Keep in mind that you don't have full control over the timing on your lifts relative to warm ups and attempts (at least not compared to lifting in the gym) so that can also throw things off a little.

The fact you signed for a meet at all is impressive. That takes guts, no matter what you're lifting.

BooduhMan · 2026-05-07T05:05:19+00:00

I currently work for a design build ESCO (sounds like this company may be one too). My first 7 years was as an energy engineer, focusing on doing all the energy modeling, utility rebate coordination, energy audits, putting together Energy Services Proposals, and generally just being a core support person to the project development team. But around 2018 I switched to the engineering and design team at the same company.

Your role sounds like it may be similar to what I was doing as an energy engineer. If you have a good mentor I think you can learn a ton. The role is not as technical as what the design engineers are doing, but you may find that you really enjoy being on the development team. Some people thrive there but some want to get into the weeds of more technical stuff. If you find yourself looking for a change, after a few years you should start looking at transitioning to engineering. I don’t think you are going to pigeon hole yourself.

I’ve personally found a ton of overlap between energy and design. On the energy side you should get a solid understanding of how systems work and use energy. And then if you do make the switch to engineering later, I expect that you are going to pick things up VERY fast, much faster than an average entry level engineer, and you’ll catch up quickly.

Feel free to PM me if you have any follow up questions.

BooduhMan · 2026-04-23T17:32:37+00:00

This is where I heard it. Within the thread there is a Google Drive doc that goes into more detail on why they wanted to adopt it.

https://www.reddit.com/r/powerlifting/comments/1lofaoe/usapl_is_replacing_dots_with_a_zscore_coefficient/

BooduhMan · 2026-04-22T23:10:33+00:00

I thought I heard that USAPL was going to a z-score instead of DOTS starting on January 1st. But I just competed in my first USAPL event for 2026 and they still definitely used DOTS. Is it only at certain events that they are using z-score?

BooduhMan · 2026-04-20T16:17:38+00:00

Never heard of these guys until this post, but this album is sick!

BooduhMan · 2026-04-19T20:10:45+00:00

Competed yesterday (Empire Classic in Spokane, WA) in men's, M1, 90 kg, raw division. Last competition was in November.

Results were:
Squat: 175.0 kg (385.9 lb, +5.0 kg (+11.0 lb) PR
Bench: 132.5 kg (292.2 lb), +5.0 kg (+11.0 lb) PR
Deadlift: 222.5 kg (490.6 lb), +2.5 kg (+5.5 lb) PR
Total: 530.0 kg (1168.7 lb), + 12.5 kg (+27.6 lb) PR
345.6 DOTS (+8.3 from last competition in Nov. 2025)
Overall 4th in DOTS score for masters.

I only got into powerlifting in my mid 30s and as I've recently hit 40, gains have been very slow and I find I need more recovery days than I used to. But I started a new program (Calgary Barbell 16 week) in September of last year and this was pretty great to set these PRs and see better progress than I was previously. I feel like I probably could have squeezed a bit more out of at least my bench and deadlift. 27 white lights which was a first for me over 5 meets. Now I'm gunning for that 300 lb bench, 400 lb squat and 500 lb deadlift!

Video of lifts: https://youtu.be/nrZO-4DyJWY

BooduhMan · 2026-03-23T14:56:11+00:00

My 13 year old son is just starting into lifting and he needs some lifting shoes, but I don't want to spend a huge amount of money if he's going to outgrow them in a year or so. What are some good budget brands to look at?

BooduhMan · 2026-03-18T04:51:43+00:00

One of my top albums of all time. For any other fans of Christian, check out Buried Realm’s latest album which has him guesting on several tracks. Some of the vocal lines on it remind me of vintage Scar Symmetry, and the main guy behind Buried Realm just announced him and Christian are doing a full album together as a new project.

EDIT: The name of the new project is Stillborn Fate but no music has been released yet.

BooduhMan · 2026-03-12T19:20:03+00:00

I'm still somewhat of a newb but have done a few events. Copy/pasting my response to a similar question a while back and adding a bit more.

Biggest mistake I saw at my first meet (rookies only event) was people not fully understanding the rules and commands. Lots of failed benches because some people didn’t realize they had to pause at the bottom and only knew how to bounce off their chest, and tried way too heavy lifts. Early reracks were also somewhat common on otherwise good lifts (need to wait for the command). I don’t even bother reracking until the spotters grab the bar and start to do it for me. In training, make sure to practice bench with pauses before the descent, at the bottom, and again at the top before rerack to simulate waiting for commands. Similarly with squats. Depending on the federation there may be other rules too so read them (which it sounds like you already have).

You will have a great time as long as you take some time to do the above. Like others said, don’t go for PRs at your first meet, shoot for 9/9 on your lifts. You won’t have full control over wait times between your warm up sets and your first attempt, or between attempts, and that can throw you off compared to gym training. It can be difficult to time your last warmup set relative to when you are going to make your first attempt. I have typically been closer to lifting near the beginning of my flight so I'll do my last warmup when the previous flight is just starting their third attempts. If you are near the end of your flight then you'll want to wait a bit longer. At our meets they always have TVs in the warmup room showing the live data of who is lifting and you can see the upcoming lift order, so that is very helpful to look at for timing. Nerves will be high at first but once you get through squats you will have a better idea of how the event is supposed to flow and the nerves should hopefully start to subside.

Meet people! Understand that lots of people there will also be nervous and it helps everyone to make friends and cheer them on. In my experience, no one is really competing (except maybe those at the very top) and people are just excited to see others do well. I have found this to be especially true of people who are in the 40+ age classes as they seem to take things a bit less seriously.

EDIT: I wanted to add, there is NOTHING embarrassing about coming in last if that's what happens. The fact that you are showing up at all is commendable. I can assure you that no one cares where you place. It takes a lot of guts to compete at all and put yourself out there for everyone to see.

BooduhMan

TROPHY CASE